Production version will push nearly 400 hp and scoot to 60 mph in less than 5 seonds

The first time BMW unveiled the i8 electric sports car concept was in July of last year. The vehicle had a very strange, but futuristic design that screamed concept car. Spy photos have surfaced of the i8 in winter testing wearing camouflage and much of the car appears to be dead on with the concept.

Car reports that the vehicle weighs 3,200 lbs and will be offered exclusively as a plug-in hybrid vehicle. The vehicle is a 2+2 with pop up doors that open the style that seems to be a mix of Lamborghini and DeLorean.

The i8 will use a 170 hp electric motor to drive the front wheels and a turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine producing 223 HP and 295 lb-ft of torque to drive the rear wheels. Originally, there was talk of a gasoline-powered counterpart using a V8 or possibly a V10 engine, but that car is no longer part of the program.

The electric i8 plug-in hybrid will be able to travel 20 miles on electric power alone. It also has a projected average fuel economy rating of 104.2 mpg on the European Cycle.

With gasoline and electric motors combined, the car has 393 HP and 406 lb-ft of torque. BMW promises 0 to 62 mph in 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 156 mph.

The i8’s battery needs six hours to charge from a normal household outlet and higher voltage charger will be able to charge the batteries and under an hour. The i8 is expected to sell for over €100,000 and BMW expects to sell about 10,000 units per year.

Okay I'm not saying I'm agreeing with the OP, but I find it absurd how you needed to inject a biased nationalism argument into a car discussion. Income disparities and wealth concentration? Give me a break. That doesn't even make sense. The US is BMW's single largest market. Think all those sales are coming from the top "1%"? Think again. 1 in 3 BMW's sold is a 3 series. You don't need to be rich to own that. Drive through any middle class neighborhood (and even the ghetto's) and the streets are littered with the things.

Did you really need to politicize this? Just talk about the car man, leave your slant out of it.